This month, Alexandre Mattiussi is celebrating nine years in the business—and it so happens that nine is his lucky number (he has a tattoo to prove it). Being in a festive mood, the designer took his show to Le Trianon—a beautiful Belle Epoque theater at the foot of Montmartre—and staged a celebration.
“It’s not a retrospective, it’s not the Queen’s Jubilee, we’re just having fun,” the designer commented jovially just minutes before showtime. “I wanted to do something that included everything we love and things we never dared do before. We wanted to amp it up to Ami-plus-plus, an augmented reality.”
What Mattiussi loves is Parisian chic. What he dared was more theatricality. What is certain is that his base is going to thrill to all of it. Opening what is ostensibly a men’s fashion show with womenswear—a white double-breasted coat—was one unexpected way in. Then the party really got underway with jewel tones—for example an emerald green ensemble, on Audrey Marnay. Lashings of festive silver, black, or purple sequins, or transparent shirts appeared on both men and women. Likewise, women and men wore dramatic flounces.
Flourishes aside, there were plenty of wearable, covetable not-too basics. The swishy wide corduroy trousers (for her) and dapper gray flannel suiting (for him) come to mind. So do a sweeping greatcoat, a checked overcoat and houndstooth bomber. Though one or two looks lacked a certain something special, like Mattiussi’s own trajectory there was nary a false step in the bunch.
At the end, the models appeared onstage, a living tableau set against a Paris night sky. And now that he’ll always have Paris (where a new store will open next year), Mattiussi is getting ready to take Manhattan, too.